


Of All The Secrets I Keep, My Love for You Is Not One

by Gemini_Baby



Series: January Prompt Event 2021 [1]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Batman and Robin (Comics)
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Dick Grayson is Damian Wayne’s Parent, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Jason Todd & Damian Wayne & Dick Grayson, POV Dick Grayson
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:41:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28481091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gemini_Baby/pseuds/Gemini_Baby
Summary: “How many secrets do you have, kiddo?” He asks, amused.Damian shifts a bit. “Hmm. More than the dead bodies in my name.” Damian’s choice of humour is different with different people. Well, with people whom he has the sort of relationship where they do humour.Dick snorts. “How many dead bodies are in your name, Dami?”“As many as if you pile them up, they would make a pile taller than Todd or at least his height. So...more than your height.”“Hey!”Dick makes an offended noise. “Firstly, I am not short. Secondly, you are spending too much time with Jason.”OR: Dick & Damian spend some time together. It is pouring outside. And it may be a nice time to share some harmless secrets with each other too while being wrapped around each other under a pile of blankets.
Relationships: Dick Grayson & Damian Wayne
Series: January Prompt Event 2021 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2087832
Comments: 8
Kudos: 230
Collections: Bat Family 18+ Discord Server January Prompt Event, Dick Grayson is Damian Wayne's Parent, Start Reading





	Of All The Secrets I Keep, My Love for You Is Not One

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Marzue](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marzue/gifts).



> Written using the prompt, “Sharing Secrets” for the January Prompt Event, run by the awesome mods and lovely people of the Bat Family 18+ server
> 
> Thank you Suze (realismandromance) for the huge beta help <3
> 
> Thank you Aurora for sharing your hc regarding Dick's favourite animal. I had fun with it <3
> 
> For Marzue, who is an amazing person. I hope you like it Marzue <3

Dick and Damian are curled around each other in the bed in Dick’s apartment. It is the first night of the two weeks Damian stays with Dick each month. Dick wanted to spend this day with his kid, err -- brother. Well, Damian is his brother, but also his kid. His son in everything but blood. Damian said last month that Dick is his father also in ink, referring to the adoption papers and custody arrangement papers.

They tried to go back to normal, back to their lives or on a journey to make a new one, in Dick and Damian’s case respectively. But a void had been there and had made them both feel empty; or, more accurately, it made them feel like a part of their being was missing. Dick had tried to give Damian a chance to be with his father, to know the person and not just the legend and tales of his alter-ego.

Dick is not going to waste time right now dwelling what happened afterwards. He is not going to reminisce about the past and ignore his little buddy in the process when he is here and now with him, with his partner who trusts him and who made him decide to better himself as a person for  _ him _ . His brother whom he loves a lot. His son, whom every time he sees him, Dick feels a burst of warmth inside.

It is raining tonight. Hence, the temperature of the environment is hence cold, but his kid lying beside him is warm, and the feeling of warmth seeps into his bones, making him feel a sort of contentment that quells many of his worries, soothes many of his aches and makes him feel peace. Dick knows that later there would be worries and aches clawing at him, other stressful things eating at him, but for now, he can lie down with his son like this. Bask in the warmth and company. Cherish these moments. And just...forget everything else for a while.

Sounds like a good plan.

Except…

Except, his brain runs thousands of miles, leaving him exhausted and in a need of a distraction.

“Tell me a secret,” he says.

He doesn’t know why he said that. He doesn’t know what prompted him to say that. But he did. The nice thing about their relationship is that Damian knows Dick is never going to force him to say things he doesn’t want. Things he has the right to keep secret.

Damian leans back a bit from where his head is lying on Dick’s chest. He looks at Dick’s face, searching for something, blinks twice and leans back, assuming his previous position. “What kind?”

“Any. Whatever you feel like sharing,” Dick replies as he plays with his kid’s hair.

Dick hears a huff of breath. Sounds like whatever he said exasperated Damian. The thought puts a soft smile on his lips.

“That does not narrow down the list at all, Richard.”

“How many secrets do you have, kiddo?” he asks, amused.

Damian shifts a bit. “Hmm. More than the dead bodies in my name.” Damian’s choice of humour is different with different people. Well, with people whom he has the sort of relationship where they do humour.

Dick snorts. “How many dead bodies are in your name, Dami?”

“As many as if you pile them up, they would make a pile taller than Todd, or at least his height. So...more than your height.”

“ _ Hey!” _ Dick makes an offended noise. “Firstly, I am not short. Secondly, you are spending too much time with Jason.”

“Richard.”

“Yes?”

“Are you jealous of the height of the dead bodies pile?” Damian says, and though he doesn’t voice it, Dick can hear a “Seriously?” at the end. And who does that remind him of...

“I repeat: Too. Much. Time. With. Jason”

“You asked for a secret.”

“...Yes.”

“I like archery more than sword fighting.”

“Oh?”

“Don’t know if you will believe it -”

“Stop right there,” Dick cuts him off. He shouldn’t have, but some conversations should be had. Dick is trying to be a  _ dad. _ No way is he going to mess this up. “I  _ trust  _ you. And I will always believe you.  _ And _ I will always keep believing in you.”

“Thank you, Richard. And I, you.” The feeling of warmth and pride is never going to get old.

“Do you wish to know what I was going to tell?” Damian asks as he adjusts his head, his hair tickling Dick in the process.

Dick remembers he had cut Damian off as he hears the raindrops hitting his window. The Bludhaven rain somehow always managed to make the scenery both peaceful and eerie. It was one of the things Dick never understood about the city he had sworn to protect. “Ah, yes.”

“I was mentored by Merlyn,” Damian says, as if he is telling some big secret. Probably, he is.

“Merlyn?” Dick asks, because he asked Damian to share a secret so that he won’t have to do more thinking. And on the surface, all he is coming up with is magic villains named ‘Merlyn’ in many cartoons, movies and shows. He  _ knows _ he knows something else...or someone else...

“Green Arrow’s arch-nemesis,” Damian replies. That...okay, that is not what Dick had thought he would be hearing.

“Huh?” is his thought in response, voiced out loud. Well, at least his brain slowed down for a moment.

“I bested him,” Damian declares proudly.

Dick blinks. Bested? That often means trouble when villains are involved. A surge of protectiveness rushes through him. If  _ Merlyn _ had dared to lay a single hand on Damian...well, Nightwing doesn’t kill, but Nightwing can be pretty  _ mean _ when he wants to be. When he is forced to be. When the people he loves are endangered.

“Oh? He didn’t come after you?” he asks sweetly. Damian doesn’t have to know that Dick is close to seeing red right now. Not because of Damian. But  _ for Damian. _

As if his kid can hear his thoughts, Damian leans back a bit. He does not look happy to leave his favourite place to rest his head on, near where Dick’s heart is. But he meets Dick’s eyes, answers him in earnest. “He may be a villain. But he is a good teacher. A good teacher who is proud that his pupil surpasses him.”

That surprises Dick. And pleases him. Damian deserves people who treat him with respect. And people who don’t harm him. 

“How many people know you know archery?” Dick opts to ask, because he isn’t sure if anyone else knows. Not in Gotham, anyway.

“Here? No one. Except you, now,” Damian says, and confirms all of Dick’s suspicions.

“How does no one else know?”

“They like to think I somehow survived being an assassin, the League and the attacks that the League faces with only a ‘bratty attitude’ and subpar skills.”

“Do you not want them to know?” Dick asks as he moves his chin, which previously had Damian’s head tucked under it. “I mean, I know you are good at a lot of things. But do they? Do you even want them to…?”

Damian shrugs. “I don’t intend to change the perceptions of people who don’t want to change their perceptions themselves.”

“Some years ago, that could have been said about you too.”

“I changed. Also because I  _ wanted  _ to change. You played a major role.”

“I know, kiddo.”

“Your turn.”

“Huh?”

“Your turn to tell a secret,” Damian whispers. The sound of the rain and the air outside is loud. But some things are said heart to heart. And they are heard anyway.

“Are we taking turns now?” Dick asks, amused. Leave it to Damian to turn his activities or games on him.

“Yes, we are.”

“You know that means that you will have to share more of them,” Dick teases.

“I know.”

All right, Damian is ready to share. And it is not like Dick is hesitant to. He thinks for a moment, and he has one that he wants to tell Damian. He never told it to anyone before.

“The first one I remembered now is a bit sad. You sure you want to hear?”

“If you want to share, then yes.”

“When I was a child, I sometimes wanted a little sibling. Someone whom I could have as a sibling, as a friend and as a partner. One day, I told my parents. They just smiled in return. It was soon going to be dinner time. My father picked me up, sat me on his shoulder and we went for a round ‘round the circus. When we came back, it was dinner time. Everyone was hastening to take the dishes and serve them. In the hustle and bustle, in the chatter, my sadness of being the only child faded a bit. At least for that day.”

Some things are hard to voice, even when you have known them for a long time. Things very close to the heart often don’t make it to the lips.

“What happened then?”

“I didn’t get the chance to talk about it again, as we got busy preparing for our next upcoming show. Then the day of the performance came. The circus was going in a loss. Our act was the main attraction. The thing that sold a large number of tickets. So my parents had to perform that night. I heard them a couple of days earlier ask to be excused from the act, or at least let my mother not perform. I did not understand.”

“I don’t either.”

“Before our performance, my parents told me that they love me, that they always will. Then they asked me if I remembered what I had complained about to them earlier.

“The thing was: I didn’t. Because I never complained. And I told them so. They shook their heads and just smiled. My father kissed my forehead and my mother gave me that smile of her which...I still long for. No matter how genuinely a person smiles at me, it can never be anything like that of my mother.

“Anyways, they said something, and then we were called from backstage to the front stage. In all the commotion, I didn't understand what they said. Or rather, the meaning of it.”

“What did they say?”

“I don’t even remember the exact words. It hit me years later what they meant when they said ‘my wish that is coming true’.”

“I still don’t get it.”

“That night? That night was the night Haly’s Circus came to Gotham. That night was the night I lost not only my parents but my sibling.”

“I am sorry.”

“Hey, look at us now,” he says to Damian, looking him in the eyes, just like the kid did earlier. “I have the little brother my parents promised me.” He smiles at Damian, and  _ he means every word. _

“Your parents would have been  _ scandalized _ if they had me as their kid,” Damian says, both awed and insecure.

“I don’t think they would have been.  _ And _ I don’t think they are  _ scandalized _ ,”, Dick says, mimicking Damian’s voice when he says “scandalized”. Then he grins at Damian conspiratorially, “To have you as your grandkid.”

Damian hugs him closer, and Dick holds him closer.

“Tell me a secret. Your turn.”

“Don’t know if this counts as a secret, but I don’t want to be a doctor and I don’t want to be a vet.”

“Oh?”

“Doctors scare me. Legacies exhaust me. And I am not Father, however much I have aspired to be in the past.”

“I don’t quite follow...”

“Father was scared of bats, so he decided to make it into something that could make other people scared while also helping others. Inadvertently, it turned into a legacy.”

“Following.”

“And I grew up with a pressure of legacies. They no longer ‘charm’ me. I don’t see the appeal.”

“How is being a vet or doctor a legacy?”

“Grandfather was a doctor. Both grandfathers were. Pennyworth is also a sort of doctor. Mother was studying medicine. Father dropped out of a medical school.”

“ _ Oh, wow.” _

_ “Precisely.  _ It’s a profession I don’t want to pursue. I know legacies don’t always have to be bad. They can be good too. And if I am doing it for something good, then that is a good form of legacy. But I am not Father, who can make something good out of his fear and  _ wants to _ do so. And I am not Jason either, trying to prove I can go down the same legacy but a different path. It is me and my usage of it which defines if it is good or bad. I respect what he did with the Red Hood mantle, but I don’t want to do anything like that with my career path. I love Mother and Father. But I don’t want to follow in their footsteps. _ I want to make my own _ .”

“I am proud of you, Dami,” Dick tells Damian. He would tell him that a hundred times more. “Thank you for sharing it with me.”

“Your turn.”

“Zitka was my childhood friend-” Dick starts, only to be cut off by Damian.“That’s hardly a secret.”

“That’s because you cut me off.”

“Sorry.”

“Zitka was my childhood friend. But elephants are not my favourite animals, as many believe.”

“You never told them…”

“No. It is fun in a way. I get elephant-themed gifts sometimes.”

“You like elephant-themed gifts, but not elephants to that extent,” Damian states. His tone is a bit victorious, as if he has solved a puzzle. Who knows, maybe he has.

“ _ Yup. _ Hey, it’s both funny and adorable to see the Red Hood sneaking and going through all the trouble to leave me a gift without being spotted...to leave me a gift that reminded him of me when he was on some island on Earth, or in space, or...well, wherever Outlaws’ adventures take them.”

“So, to be clear, Todd gifts you elephant-plushies,” Damian says, and Dick sighs. The way Damian said it with mirth...well, Dick repeats: too much time with Jason

“Not always, but yeah.” No harm in admitting it.

“I will  _ kill  _ him.”

Kill? What did Dick miss? “Dami, I am sure whatever it is, it does not call for murder.”

“Stealing my Red Hood toy  _ does  _ call for murder.”

Here we go again. “You didn’t even want the toy.”

“I wanted it later.”

“ _ Right _ . After Jason snatched it.”

“I will devise the most elaborate scheme.”

Time to distract Damian from coming up with plans. He is very dangerous when he tries to be a kid and comes up with childish pranks.

“Won’t you ask me what my favourite animal is?”

“That is hardly a secret  _ for me _ .”

“Really?”

“The same way it is hardly a secret for me that you love me. That you trust me enough to watch your back. That you want me enough to have custody of me. The same way it shouldn’t be a secret to you that I love you and trust you. Though, now that I think about it...I should also have custody of you.”

“Aww...Wait, what?”

“To have you as my parent. It being two-way and all.”

Dick doesn’t know how to answer that.

“You said it is not a secret to you. So tell me.”

“Your favourite animal is a turtle.”

“ _ How do you know?” _

“Just like you know a lot about me even when I never told you.”

“Come on, Dami. Tell me,” Dick insists. There is no response.

Damian’s breathing has evened out and he has fallen asleep. Not for the first time this night, it fills Dick with warmth, love and many other emotions he can’t name yet. He pushes back some of his son’s hair from his forehead as he drops a light kiss to his head. He adjusts the sheets and himself, tugging Damian closer to him. He closes his eyes. It is still raining. But the storm brewing in Dick’s head earlier has calmed a lot. He soon follows his kid to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos, comments, bookmarks and user subscriptions are always welcome and appreciated ❤


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